What it is
A thick soup built on ground melon seed, which swells and curdles into soft lumps as it cooks in palm oil and pepper. Leafy greens, meat, fish and sometimes locust bean are added, producing a rich, nutty, textured soup rather than a smooth one.
Key ingredients
- Ground egusi melon seeds
- Palm oil
- Bitterleaf, ugu or spinach
- Scotch bonnet and red pepper
- Crayfish
- Assorted meat, stockfish or dried fish
- Locust bean (iru or ogiri)
A list of what goes in, not a recipe. Quantities and method vary by household.
How it is eaten
Eaten with the fingers alongside a swallow such as pounded yam, eba, fufu or amala, which is pinched off, dipped and swallowed without chewing.
Cultural significance
Egusi is eaten across almost the whole of southern and central Nigeria, with Igbo, Yoruba and Edo households each preparing it differently — some frying the seed paste first into lumps, others dissolving it into the broth. It is the soup most often named when Nigerians abroad describe what they miss, and the seed itself keeps for months, which made it a dependable protein long before refrigeration.
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